FCPA Case: U.S. v. Esquenazi (Haiti Teleco)

In 2011, Joel Esquenazi, former president of Terra Telecommunications Corp., a Florida-based telecom, and his colleagues were convicted for their involvement in a scheme to bribe officials of Haiti’s state-owned telecom company. After a jury trial, they were found guilty of seven counts of violating the FCPA, 12 counts of money laundering, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and wire fraud. Esquenazi received a sentence of 15 years imprisonment, the longest sentence ever to be given under the FCPA.

Esquenazi filed an appeal in the 11th Circuit, challenging the government’s interpretation of who counts as a “foreign official” under the FCPA. Specifically, he argued that, when enacting the FCPA, Congress intended the phrase “foreign official” to include only traditional government officials, not employees of state-owned enterprises. The 11th Circuit held oral argument in October 2013 and issued an opinion affirming the convictions on May 16, 2014.

Esquenazi filed a petition for writ of certiorari on August 14, 2014. Professor Michael Koehler filed an amicus brief in support of the petition, as did the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF amicus). On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari.

For a highly detailed timeline of the proceedings in this case, visit FCPAProfessor.comhere.